Rules: Scoring

Scoring in wrestling is a lot different from football or baseball, but it is very simple. The four main ways of scoring are: a takedown, an escape, a reversal, or a near fall.

A takedown is when one wrestler takes his opponent from a neutral standing position to a better position on the mat. Take downs can be done in many ways. The most popular is just the single leg takedown. One wrestler shoots for his opponent’s leg, grabs it and pushes until he is on his stomach. Double-leg take downs, throws, leg picks; they are all two points.

An escape is worth one point. It happens when one wrestler has the bottom position on the mat, and is able to break away to a neutral position. An example of this would be after a takedown, the wrestler who was taken down escapes to a neutral standing position. Wrestlers who think they can easily escape from an opponent will choose to start out in the down position to score an easy point.

Reversals are less common than the first two, but they are very exciting to see. They are worth two points, just like take downs. A reversal is when one wrestler is in a defensive position on the bottom and is able to suddenly switch to a better position.

A near fall is worth three points. They happen when one wrestler is about to get a pin, but doesn’t. If the wrestler can hold his opponent close enough to being pinned for long enough, he gets three points.

Dustin Fox

Now, lets go inside the headgear of Dustin Fox, the NCAA heavyweight champion from Northwestern. He has had a very successful wrestling career at Northwestern. His collegiate stats are as follows:

Yr.; Overall; Dual
2004-05; 19-12; 6-3
2005-06; 28-11; 11-4
2006-07; 33-5; 13-2
2007-08; 29-1; 15-1
Totals; 109-29; 45-10

Fox is the 2008 Big Ten and NCAA champion in the heavyweight class. He tallied up five wins with no loses in the NCAA tournament. He scored the second most team points in the entire tournament. His 2006/2007 season was also a great year for Fox. He earned his personal collegiate best record of 33-5 and finished third in the NCAA tournament.

Dustin was born December 16, 1985 to Bill and Kym Fox in Galion Ohio. He went to high school at Galion High School and started his great wrestling career. He won two Ohio state championships, and placed three times. His high school record was 132-14. With such a successful high school career, the best teams from around the country made him offers; Ohio State, Stanford, Princeton, Virginia, and Oklahoma all took a back seat to Northwestern. He based his decision on the great education along with the Big Ten’s accolades in wrestling, Northwestern was the obvious choice. He also knew a guy from high school that was going there. He is grateful for his decision because he loves Chicago, especially the concerts. During his free time, Fox likes to go see movies and concerts with his friends. If he wasn’t a wrestler, he would like to make movies. He’s a film major so some day, maybe he will.

Fox’s championship match was a very interesting and exciting to watch. His opponent, J.D. Bergman from Ohio State, was a good friend of his in high school. He knew him for a long time and they always wrestled on the same team. They never met in a real match until college. Fox said it was weird because he was so used to practicing him in high school, and now it’s the biggest stakes with the most on the line. Fox also said about the championship match that he didn’t want to get too nervous before. A lot of people can’t appreciate the moment that they have been waiting for their whole lives because they are too nervous. Fox didn’t let that happen. He sat back, relaxed and enjoyed his accomplishment.

The match itself was entertaining as well. It went into two overtime periods. The first overtime was very action packed. Fox gets an incidental head but in the first to stop up the action and tend to his bloody nose. A bloody nose that goes nicely with his cut forehead and busted headgear. Bergman chooses the down position at the beginning of the second overtime period. Bergman charges up and breaks away from Fox to take a one point lead. Fox then takes the down position and escapes immediately to tie the score. In the final one minute round, Fox blocks a desperate shoot from Bergman and retaliates with his own. Fox is able to control Bergman’s leg and takes him down for two points and the victory. Watch the overtime periods here

See some Dustin Fox interviews at flowrestling.com